[february 17] [original] painful reasons
Title: Painful Reasons
Day/Theme: February 17/“All places are alike, and every earth is fit for burial”
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Douglas, Jem
Rating: PG
Words: 602
"I'd... I'd really like to move on."
Douglas turned his head away from the sea and looked towards his companion sitting rigidly in the long wooden chair while keeping a light grip on the wheel of the ship. "Loraine still making you uncomfortable? That why you didn't go into town with the kids?"
Jem bit her lip and bent her head down so her long blonde hair hid her face from his view. "That's not it. There really was no need to come here. That lead Alexandria paid for was most likely a rip-off."
Douglas let out a chuckle and bit his tongue to keep himself from grinning when Jem lifted her head furiously and shot him a glare. She pushed her hair off her shoulder roughly, crossed her arms under her breasts, and turned away from the ship's captain. "Go get them. I can watch the ship. They're taking too much time and Deri has probably lived to his next show location by now."
"Strange," Douglas pretended to mutter but his words were loud enough for her to hear. "You were never the type to rush into a thieving job Ms. Jem. You have some kind of experience with this city or something?"
He knew he was being nosy but her strange behavior set something off in him; he suspected that it was a feeling of worry for his companion. She wasn't her calm and insightful self; her actions and words seemed irritated and cautious now.
When she didn't respond, Douglas let go of the stationary wheel and approached where she was sitting. He kneeled down next to her; the young former pirate saw her body tense as she avoided his gaze.
"Tell me. What happened to make you spend all your energy avoiding this place?"
"Stop it Douglas." Her voice was uncharacteristically shaky and he noticed that her hands were clenched into fists now.
The possible threat of receiving a punch to the face (the pieces that made up her staff were currently in her room) didn't stop him from playing a guessing game; he knew that he would later feel awful about it but for now, he just wanted to get to the bottom of her strange behavior.
"Money trouble? Debts, loans? We could help you with that you know."
He took her lack of a reply as a no and continued with his questions.
"Have a bad fight here?"
Silence met his ears once again; he took that as a sign to keep on prodding her for answers.
"Family troubles then?"
He watched her as her eyes widened in shock and the force of her lip biting increased. "Douglas stop it."
Any other day, her stern and biting command would have sent shivers down his spine; today was a different day though. His brown eyes narrowed in suspicion and he decided to continue.
"Did someone you love di-"
Her livid shout mixed in with his short yell of surprise and pain as she slammed her fist into his cheek; he could feel his blood spill out of his mouth and onto her own fist. His body slid to the opposite side of the ship; he later thanked some form of deity for the lack of damage to his precious ship.
Douglas silently berated himself for forgetting that she needed a lot of muscle to carry that heavy staff of hers despite the appearance of her body. Slowly, he picked himself up off the ship's deck and watched as she hastily rose from the chair and walked into her room, making sure to slam the door right behind her.
Day/Theme: February 17/“All places are alike, and every earth is fit for burial”
Series: Original
Character/Pairing: Douglas, Jem
Rating: PG
Words: 602
"I'd... I'd really like to move on."
Douglas turned his head away from the sea and looked towards his companion sitting rigidly in the long wooden chair while keeping a light grip on the wheel of the ship. "Loraine still making you uncomfortable? That why you didn't go into town with the kids?"
Jem bit her lip and bent her head down so her long blonde hair hid her face from his view. "That's not it. There really was no need to come here. That lead Alexandria paid for was most likely a rip-off."
Douglas let out a chuckle and bit his tongue to keep himself from grinning when Jem lifted her head furiously and shot him a glare. She pushed her hair off her shoulder roughly, crossed her arms under her breasts, and turned away from the ship's captain. "Go get them. I can watch the ship. They're taking too much time and Deri has probably lived to his next show location by now."
"Strange," Douglas pretended to mutter but his words were loud enough for her to hear. "You were never the type to rush into a thieving job Ms. Jem. You have some kind of experience with this city or something?"
He knew he was being nosy but her strange behavior set something off in him; he suspected that it was a feeling of worry for his companion. She wasn't her calm and insightful self; her actions and words seemed irritated and cautious now.
When she didn't respond, Douglas let go of the stationary wheel and approached where she was sitting. He kneeled down next to her; the young former pirate saw her body tense as she avoided his gaze.
"Tell me. What happened to make you spend all your energy avoiding this place?"
"Stop it Douglas." Her voice was uncharacteristically shaky and he noticed that her hands were clenched into fists now.
The possible threat of receiving a punch to the face (the pieces that made up her staff were currently in her room) didn't stop him from playing a guessing game; he knew that he would later feel awful about it but for now, he just wanted to get to the bottom of her strange behavior.
"Money trouble? Debts, loans? We could help you with that you know."
He took her lack of a reply as a no and continued with his questions.
"Have a bad fight here?"
Silence met his ears once again; he took that as a sign to keep on prodding her for answers.
"Family troubles then?"
He watched her as her eyes widened in shock and the force of her lip biting increased. "Douglas stop it."
Any other day, her stern and biting command would have sent shivers down his spine; today was a different day though. His brown eyes narrowed in suspicion and he decided to continue.
"Did someone you love di-"
Her livid shout mixed in with his short yell of surprise and pain as she slammed her fist into his cheek; he could feel his blood spill out of his mouth and onto her own fist. His body slid to the opposite side of the ship; he later thanked some form of deity for the lack of damage to his precious ship.
Douglas silently berated himself for forgetting that she needed a lot of muscle to carry that heavy staff of hers despite the appearance of her body. Slowly, he picked himself up off the ship's deck and watched as she hastily rose from the chair and walked into her room, making sure to slam the door right behind her.